'Our communities in Lincolnshire are very valuable and hard working', writes Councillor Martin Hill, leader of Lincolnshire County Council
I often talk about how valuable and hard working our communities in Lincolnshire are, how they rally round to help each other at times of need and pull together to achieve so much, writes Councillor Martin Hill, leader of Lincolnshire County Council.
This was never more apparent than during the recent flooding across our local area.
As a council, we do a lot to prevent flooding and to prepare for the worst behind the scenes. We’re also there on the front line as part of the response to protect residents and their properties.
The council plays a key role in the Lincolnshire Resilience Forum, where partners work together during an emergency, as well as being the fire and highways authority - responding in times of crisis.
From January 6, Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue dealt with more than 150 calls about flooding in the county. This included areas around Grantham and Billingborough.
Fire crews and specialist teams worked with other emergency responders to pump out water, rescue people stranded in floods, support evacuations and offer advice.
In Billingborough, crews used the high volume pump (HVP) through the night to remove around five million litres of water over 14 hours. And members of the community around Billingborough and Pointon were instrumental in helping those who were worst affected.
Since last year’s storms, the group involved have been working with the LRF to put together an emergency plan so that they could act swiftly in the case of an emergency, and this was enormously helpful to the emergency services.
During the floods, our county council highways teams were flat-out keeping as much of the road network open and useable. It was an urgent battle against rising water levels, shifting areas of disruption and then almost impossible amounts of ice to deal with.
A team of around 60 Highways staff worked around the clock to keep travellers moving, with in excess of 1,100 hours put in to deal with the issues. And their work paid off. Out of the mostly rural network of 5,500 miles of Lincolnshire roads just 25 larger routes had to be closed at the peak of the bad weather.
And our work doesn’t stop when the flood water recedes. The council is now leading on the recovery process, this includes making sure residents whose homes were flooded get the support they need.
Thorough investigations must take place to establish the factors that contributed to the flooding and what measures can be taken by the council and other partners to prevent future incidents. We must then continue to help communities become more resilient in the future.
You can find more information on all aspects of flooding and emergencies, including staying safe, reporting flooding and making a plan for your community at: www.lincolnshireresilienceforum.org.